Historic Black Business District

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This district served as the focal point of African American business in Nashville prior to 1930. Before the Civil War, free blacks conducted business here, operating hack stands, barber shops, and bathhouses. Business continued after the war with the opening of banks, business and professional offices, printing and publishing houses, lunch stands, restaurants, and saloons. In 1904, Dr. R. H. Boyd, James C. Napier, and Preston Taylor founded the One-Cent Savings Bank and Trust Company housed in the Morris Memorial Building with Boyd acting as the first president. This bank, now Citizens Bank, is the oldest continuously operating minority-owned bank in the United States.